The UK is home to some of the world's most exciting and successful FinTech start-ups. From cross-border payments, to alternative lending, InsurTech disruptors, to digital banks, London has been the birthplace of great FinTech start-ups, as identified in our report for the Global FinTech Hub Federation.

But the UK cannot yet claim to be a natural home for FinTech scale-ups.

“Our business is only as good as the people we have.” A phrase you will have heard or read as part of leadership strategy and communications. But how often do business leaders make human capital decisions on the premise that people are a contribution to the business, rather than a cost?

Businesses are under increasing pressure to innovate to survive. Innovation in many businesses is no longer a trendy nice-to–have, but something that is now essential to strategy and organisational change. This might be implementing new technology to streamline core services, delivering core services in an entirely different way, or designing completely new products or services. The level of ambition and pace of innovation in each business will depend on the risk tolerance of leadership, as well as the extent of disruption occurring in the business' sector.

The future of work can feel like an imminent and overwhelming issue that requires drastic and immediate action. We know we need to do something, but coming up with a pragmatic, future-proof plan is hard.

In the first wave, start-ups ‘unbundled the bank’. Swashbuckling new entrants built exciting businesses around individual products in areas like business lending, FX and payments. The FinTech trailblazers weren’t interested in providing the full joined-up bundle of bank services – from current accounts to payments, lending and insurance. They wanted to do very specific things. And do them better and cheaper than incumbent banks.

Alex Curry, Leader of Doblin Western Europe states: “creating new products is only one way to innovate, and on its own, it provides the lowest return on investment and the least competitive advantage [1]”.

When I talk to clients about their innovation strategies, it is more often than not about the new products and services they are developing. In a recent Innovation survey we conducted with the CBI, 30% of companies surveyed said that product development was the main benefit of innovation. However, we believe that companies need a strong mix of cultural as well as product based innovation to achieve business growth. Indeed, it is those organisations who achieve a truly integrated innovation strategy that can expect to derive the most value for shareholders.

In recent months, the public has continued to surprise pollsters. Following the surprise results of the US elections and Brexit, many are considering how we can better listen to what the public is saying. Social media is certainly part of the answer. The ability to listen is equally important for businesses. They need to be able to both listen to and influence social conversations to manage reputational risks and stay connected to their customers. Monitoring social conversations is especially important for organisations where reputation is fundamental to the value of their business.

By Justine Bornstein, Research Lead for Automotive and Industrial Products, Deloitte

Like it or not, the future depicted in all manner of 1960s science fiction films and TV shows is fast upon us, with the mass deployment of driverless vehicles expected to arrive in the next few years for many developed nations. The UK government is keen to get on board this autonomous train and it will be thanks in part to the innovative abilities of the start-up community that it moves full steam ahead.

Vimi Grewal-Carr, managing partner for Innovation interviews Alex Dunsdon, Co-Founder at The Bakery to explore how startups and corporates can work better together. The Bakery partners brands and corporates with the world's best tech startups.

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